Yucatan-Style Turkey (Pavo Pibil) takes me back to my family’s first Thanksgiving.
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When my family came to the US, we heard Thanksgiving dinner was a big family dinner. So, we made tamales. lol!
My mom got the recipe from a lady from the Yucatan. This is how we made our first Thanksgiving turkey.
So so incredibly delicious and flavorful!
Table of Contents
🌶️ How to make the Pibil Sauce
- Start by making the pibil sauce.
These are the spices necessary to make the sauce.
Ground or whole? Either is fine. They will be blended in the blender.
- Put all the ingredients in the blender.
- Blend until smooth.
Look for a deep, ruby red color in the sauce. Taste it for salt. Add more salt if necessary. It should be flavorful and not spicy.
- Strain the salsa.
- Set aside until ready to use.
Straining will remove any remaining bits of chile.
Since this is going to be all over the turkey, you want to make sure the sauce is SMOOTH. You can even make this ahead of time.
Use the remaining marinade to make Pibil Tamales, Pollo Pibil, or Cochinita Pibil.
🦃 How to Prep the Turkey
- Remove gibblets and package from inside the turkey.
- Rinse the turkey.
- Pat dry the skin with a paper towel.
Be sure to do this in a CLEAN sink. Then wash the sink after rinsing the turkey. We are talking about poultry after all.
- Peel the skin open on the turkey breast. In other words, separate the skin, creating a small hole.
- Insert the tabs of butter inside the hole.
Butter will help keep the turkey moist while baking. However, you can skip this step.
- Tabs of butter will make the turkey skin look lumpy.
Wash your hands after doing this to avoid contamination.
Here we’re using turkey, but save this recipe and try it with chicken. You won’t be disappointed.
- Fill the cavity of the turkey with orange wedges, onion, and garlic.
You can also add lime wedges, if you have some. All of this will add flavor from the inside out.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tip
Buy your turkey ahead of time so it thawed and ready. Defrost in the refrigerator in a pan to catch the drippings. Allow 24 hours for each 5 pounds.
- Place the turkey on a roasting pan or a deep baking dish lined with aluminum foil. Breast side up.
- Brush the pibil sauce all over the turkey.
- Place inside the fridge overnight to marinate.
Best to marinate overnight. Minimum 4 hours.
The beauty of this Mexican turkey recipe is that the hard work was done the night before.
What Size Turkey to Buy?
Estimate 1 ½ lbs person. For example, A 12-lb turkey will feed 8 people.
- Remove from the fridge. Let sit on countertop for 1 hour before placing in the oven.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Bake until the internal temperature is 180 degrees F.
Each time you baste the turkey with more sauce, it gives another coat of deliciousness.
🍌 Banana Leaves
Traditionally, this recipes calls for banana leaves which can be hard to find. It’s ok to omit. Your bird will still be extremely tasty.
⏰ Cooking Times for Stuffed Birds Cooked at 325 degrees F
- 8 to 12 pounds: 3 to 3 ½ hours
- 12 to 14 pounds: 3 ½ to 4 hours
- 14 to 18 pounds: 4 to 4 ¼ hours
- 18 to 20 pounds: 4 ¼ to 4 ¾ hours
- 20 to 24 pounds: 4 ¾ to 5 ¼ hours
🍴 What to serve with it?
This Yucatan-Style Turkey (or Pavo Pibil) is loaded with flavor. Delicious in every bite.
Something to enjoy with family and friends for a Mexican Thanksgiving or Mexican Christmas.
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Did you make this recipe? Please rate the recipe below!
Yucatan-Style Turkey (Pavo Pibil)
Ingredients
For the Marinade:
- ½ cup orange juice
- ½ cup lime juice
- 1 3-ounce achiote paste package
- ½ teaspoon oregano (ground or whole)
- ½ teaspoon cumin (ground or whole)
- 2 cloves whole
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorn
- ¼ whole cinnamon stick (piece)
- 10 garlic cloves
- ¼ onion (chopped)
- 2 teaspoon salt
For the Turkey:
- ½ stick butter
- 1 orange quartered
- 4 garlic cloves
- ½ onion quartered
- 1 14-lb turkey
Instructions
- Add all the marinade ingredients to a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Set aside until ready to use.
- Remove the gibblets and package stuffed inside the turkey.
- Carefully rinse the turkey.
- Pat it dry with the paper towel.
- Separate the skin from the breast meat.
- Add the tabs of butter all over the breast meat.
- Stuff with the orange wedges, onion, and garlic.
- Tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks loosely together with a kitchen string.
- Brush the pibil sauce all over the turkey.
- Cover and marinate 4 hour.
- Remove turkey from the fridge 1 hour before placing in the oven.
- Place rack to the lowest position in the oven.
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Loosely cover turkey with foil paper.
- Baste every 45 minutes.
- Alternate the basting with pan juices and pibil sauce.
- Note: Pan juices might evaporate.
- After 3 ¼ hours, remove the foil and baste with the pibil sauce.
- Bake until the thermometer inserted into the thigh registers 180 degrees F.
- About 4 hours total.
- Let the turkey sit for 30 minutes after it comes out of the oven before cutting.
- Covering the bird while it sits will soften the crispy skin.
Notes
- 8 to 12 pounds: 3 to 3 ½ hours
- 12 to 14 pounds: 3 ½ to 4 hours
- 14 to 18 pounds: 4 to 4 ¼ hours
- 18 to 20 pounds: 4 ¼ to 4 ¾ hours
- 20 to 24 pounds: 4 ¾ to 5 ¼ hours
Super! Made this for Christmas using an oven bag with a turkey breast and it turned out great! Thank you for the recipe.
So glad it was a Christmas success!
Could I do this with a spatchcock turkey? And if so what would be the best way to arrange the orange, garlic, and onion ment for the cavity?
Yes, you can do this with a spatchcock turkey. Don’t use the orange, garlic, and onion. Instead, marinade the inside, meat part of the turkey. That’ll flavor the inside. Hope this helps!
Maggie…I love your recipes & videos. I am a big fan. I just ordered your cookbook Mexicocina for a Christmas gift. Much happiness and health to you and your family. I’m gonna try your Pavo Pibil for Thankgiving. Wish me luck! Felices Vacaciones.
Thank you so much for ordering Mexicocina—I hope it brings tons of joy. Sending lots of happiness and health to you and your family too!
I’ve smoked brined baked turkey for 60 years …decided to try this and it is the best…just no words…
Thank you! I love all the flavors in this Pavo Pibil. So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Sometimes, words just can’t describe how good food can taste. I’m glad you enjoyed trying this recipe and experiencing the flavors of this Yucatán-style Turkey recipe.
I’m a white. I followed the recipe and it was delicious and juicy. My Mexican in-laws loved it. Use banana leaves and change them out then they get cwispy.
That’s great to hear. I love this recipe for that reason. The pavo pibil turns out juicy and delicious.
In blog post it mentions straining as it will “remove any remaining pieces of chile”, but I don’t see any chiles in the recipe. Is this an error in the post or an omission from the recipe?
Yes, that’s an error. I’ll edit the post. Thanks for catching.
This is the second time I cooked turkey, and the first time for a whole bird. I missed these flavors and was so glad to find a recipe which had the exact combination I had in mind. And it was excellent! My only modification was that I had to make achiote paste from scratch, but that wasn’t too difficult just added time.
All in all, was delicious, still picking at it with my family and we all love it- more flavorful every day. Can’t believe I pulled it off but with this recipe it was easy.
So happy for you! Glad you enjoyed this!
I love that marinade. Lovely flavors. And turkey looks absolutely amazing. I would love to give this a try.
So flavorful and original. Hope you try it!
Now this is winner-winner turkey dinner ! It came out awesome, meat was perfect juicy, flavors were spot on! Thank you very much for sharing this lovely whole turkey roast ! 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it! Love it when you guys try my recipes.
I love all the flavors here, especially the pepper paste and spices! Such a delicious and beautiful looking turkey that’s sure to please during the holidays!
It’s a delicious recipe. Hope you try it!
Wow this turkey looks amazing. I love the flavours that you have put together, such a great pairing of ingredients. And the clear instructions with photos are so helpful. Can’t wait to try this.
Glad to know that the instructions were clear. Hope you try it!
I bet this has great flavor. This is such a great flavor for turkey.
It is indeed! Hope you try it.
This turkey looks tasty and like it’s bursting with flavor! The sauce tops everything off very well also.
Glad you enjoyed this recipe. Hope you try it!
Wow, this must be one of the best looking turkeys I’ve ever seen! The combination of all the spices and ingredients in this recipe tells me that the flavours must be just out of this world! What a perfect alternative to a traditional turkey for a Thanksgiving!
It’s so yummy. Hope you try it!
So different than all the usual recipes I make for Thanksgiving, but I think this will be a hit with my family. Can’t wait to make this!
I think so too! Glad you enjoyed this recipe.
A turkey you will always remember and absolutely worth making! It’s gorgeous, flavorful, and different from any other turkey you’ve had. Great recipe!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed this.